How-To Stop Falling Apart

A Million Little Pieces written by author James Frey is a book that you either will want to have in your bookshelf or you will want to keep it far away from there (as it seems to be the case with most). For me, it was very gripping from the beginning of it and I am so happy for Frey who through this book has become great and popular writer.

“There is no fear. Absolutely no fear. When one lives without fear, one cannot be broken. When one lives with fear one is broken before one begins to live.” ― James Frey, A Million Little Pieces

The book was originally published as memoir. The back cover said:

This is actually not memoir but semi-fictional work, and after it was published, there has been a lot of talk about man who conned Oprah and A Million Little Lies. Despite this, I thought this was still really good book. To me it was obvious that Frey had colored some bits of it and I don’t think it really mattered to me in the end that it wasn’t all true. A Million Little Pieces was after all half-true and also all of it could have happened to someone else. Easily.

I liked the plot, the element of survival and pushing through all the hardships. We all have been through some situation when we feel like we can’t go on, we want to give up or we are too scared to keep doing something. Our inner voices are telling us how weak and hopeless we are. And in Million Little Pieces it’s the addiction to drugs and alcohol and he says no to it. Other thing that drew me in was the love story. In the treatment facility, James meets Lilly. Woman with cheap plastic watch, black hair and blue eyes.

I loved the characters. And I respect all the people working in the facility center. The clinic where Frey was in, had highest success rate with the clients and it was not much, something about 11%. My favorite characters Especially Lilly, Miles & Leonard . Leonard, again, is not the person you should like. He runs “small” Italian family business…But he has a big role in the book and he is father character to James.“The secret to kicking ass in dumbshit Hollywood… Every time you meet someone, make a fucking impression. Make them think you’re the hottest shit in the world. Make them think they’re gonna lose their job if they don’t give you one. Look ’em in the eye, and never look away. Be confident and calm, be fucking bold.That sounds more like the secret to kicking ass in life.It is, but I was gonna wait and tell you that some other time. “— James Frey (My Friend Leonard)

I’d give this book 8 (with huge) + /10

Your Guide On How-To Read A Million Little Pieces1. I’d recommend edition that doesn’t say it is memoir! Because then, it is slightly disappointing to read that it is semi-fictional…2. Read “A Million Little Lies” and “Man who conned Oprah“, and think how big role it has for you and your reading experience. What if you didn’t know of this?3. James Frey has distinctive style in writing… It’s raw and I am not big fan of stream of consciousness (what was the person who invented it thinking?) but it really opens the mind of that person who is writing. You get into their minds whether you want it or not. Frey also keeps repeating same words and often the sentence can consist of one or two words. Sometimes nouns are written with capital letters. So it is very different reading experience.4. It has too much !! of good sentences to quote, plot is great, characters are great.5. It’s sad…sometimes grey humor.6. The story continues in My Friend Leonard. I think if you love this one you can not not read it.

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6 thoughts on “How-To Stop Falling Apart”

Now I managed ^^ You really have to lend me this book again, ’cause i really loved it. The depth, the way the storyteller talks about and how he sees the world he’s living. I think you summarise all the best aspects in as short as you can without making it sound dull or too difficult.

Never have enjoyed James Frey’s books. Especially Million Little Pieces was a book I wanted to throw against the wall. Was he trying to be artistic by capitlizing Random Nouns and making ridiculous sentences of one word?

Thank you for your comment. I actually thought a lot about capitalized nouns too but I think in a way the sentences he used were unique. I like to encounter something I haven’t before, though I agree if he was after being artistic it didn’t work. I think James Frey has improving a lot as writer, I look forward to read what’s his newest Endgame all about.